Stewart’s successful 3-point shot in final seconds lifts State 68-67
DENTON, Texas — D.J. Stewart Jr. made a 3-pointer with 2 seconds remaining to lead the Mississippi State Bulldogs to a 68-67 win over short-handed Richmond in the NIT quarterfinals on Thursday night.
Trailing 67-65, Mississippi State forward Abdul Ado missed two free throws with 16 seconds left, and then fouled out to send Andre Gustavson to the line at 8.7. Gustavson missed the front end of a 1-and-1 to set up Stewart’s winner.
“I was trying to find the ball,” Stewart said. “I looked back and the ball was in the air coming from (Quinten
Post). I was like I could either lay the ball up or go for the win, so I told myself to go for the win and it went in.”
Richmond was not able to get a shot off before the buzzer as Stewart secured the tipped inbound pass near midcourt.
Stewart finished with 22 points, making all 10 of his free throw attempts for Mississippi State (17-14).
“I’m willing to do whatever the team needs and that was on the offensive end tonight,” Stewart said. “I was able to perform for my team.”
The Bulldogs were 16 of 18 from the line — with its only misses coming from Ado in the closing seconds.
Iverson Molinar had 18 points and seven rebounds for MSU, Ado added 11 rebounds and Javian Davis had seven rebounds.
Davis started for Tolu Smith, who was unavailable for the Bulldogs because of coronavirus (COVID-19) contact tracing.
Once MSU head coach Ben Howland learned that Smith would not be able to play against Richmond, he challenged the other players to step up.
“Everybody had to pick up their level,” Howland said. “We are losing our leading rebounder and our best inside scorer. We did a great job on the glass. I was just proud of the guys and the effort. We beat a really good team and we got their very best effort today.
“We did a nice job of everybody contributing so I’m just really pleased for our guys. It gives us a day off now to rest and gives us a chance to prepare (for the next opponent).”
Howland called Smith after the game in the locker room and put him on with the team so he could be a part of the celebration.
Jacob Gilyard tied a season high with 22 points and had six assists for the Spiders (14-9). Matt Grace added 16 points.
The Bulldogs play the winner of the Western Kentuckylouisiana Tech game on Saturday.